Dún Laoghaire Rathdown libraries financial and digital literacy 'Smart Cafe'
Improving digital and financial literacy through smart cafes
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The project partners were:
Adult education service, Dún Laoghaire southeast (Dublin Dún Laoghaire Education and Training Board)
Dún Laoghaire Rathdown library service
About this project
This project turned Ballyogan library into a strategic outreach hub using the 'Smart Café' model.
Smart cafes improved financial and digital literacy, promoted autonomy, and helped protect local communities from fraud.
More about this project
Financial and digital literacy workshops took place in café settings at Ballyogan library and LexIcon library between September and December 2025.
Support workers provided one-to-one sessions and learners and tutors worked together to plan each topic.
The project produced exceptional outputs, including:
a new financial literacy curriculum,
improved financial skills,
increased literacy awareness among library staff, and
new literacy champions.
“The conversations we had, the material I learned. We all got on so well and Patrick was an amazing teacher!” - quote from a learner